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Nicolas Horton
Professor Bevill
ENGL 1301-PHS3
30 October 2017
Global warming, also termed Climate Change, is the heating of the earth and the change
in weather patterns, and it is the reason that chaotic weather happens such as frequent hurricanes
that are large scale like Harvey, Erma, and Maria in recent events. Global Warming is a natural
process, but over the years it has been accepted that humans are involved in speeding up Global
Warming because of the emissions of greenhouse gases by many manmade objects and activities.
Greenhouse gases are gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and nitrous
oxide (Ananth). These gases contribute toward global warming because the more greenhouse
gases present in the atmosphere, the more the climate begins to change as they block infrared
energy, which is heat energy, from escaping the earths atmosphere. The debate over converting
to different methods of energy for the sake of slowing climate change has become a prominent
issue because of the effects it may have on the economy and possibly the environment.
The move to clean energy has always been a big problem in the business prospective.
Clean energy investment such as geothermal and hydropower projects tend to be large, capital
intensive and with long repayment periods (Hilmarsson). An example of this would be how
Windmills can cost millions to build and maintain, but they only have a durability of ten years
making the efforts to transition to clean energy seem pointless from the business prospective.
However, there are those that may argue otherwise. It is believed that public-private partnerships
can be an alternate way for funding these projects. A public-private partnership is where a public
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source, such as the government, sees the project gets done, while the private partner, such as
private business, funds the project with their own money (Hilmarsson). By doing this, it is
thought to eliminate major cost for the government and therefore allow the building of clean
partnerships allow for a broad amount of people to contribute expressing that the cost of building
While world leaders have tried to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with accords such as
the Kyoto Protocol, the United States Senate decided not to ratify it because of excessive cost
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(Ananth). This has aggravated both liberals and conservatives in America as it is thought that
America will prosper in the global market if they become the leaders of eco-friendly
technologies.
Although fossil fuels release greenhouse gases, people are reluctant to convert to a new
production of energy. This means the efficiency of new devices may not be as great as fossil
fuels, because there is no money going into programs to stray away from them. Fossil fuels
dominate energy consumption, with a market share of 87% while renewable energy currently
accounts for only 2% of energy consumption globally (Energy). The cost of oil is sufficiently
lower than that of clean energy and so it would be unlikely for a business to switch if that means
losing money. Jobs in the fossil fuel industry are another reason people dislike the switch to
clean energy. The oil field alone has over one million jobs have so far been created, with a further
two million expected by 2020 (Energy). The transition to clean energy can hurt those in fossil
fuel as those jobs diminished. While the clean energy will create new jobs to stimulate the
economy they may require different schooling, therefore not allowing the workers to transition
over from one field to the next (Ananth). This can cause a reduction in spending and cause the
economy harm as money entering the economy is reduced because of a decrease in employment
rates, as oil is one of the top industries that supplies a large amount of jobs. This predicament is
the reason many believe that it is not possible to completely turn a blind eye on nonrenewable
energy.
Another alternative to fossil fuels emitting greenhouse gas emissions is to revitalize clean
nuclear energy (Ananth). Nuclear energy has been shut down before after failures such as
Chernobyl and Fukushima, and costs roughly twenty million dollars to build a plant (Miller).
Nuclear energy uses uranium core and can cause severe issues in the environment such as death
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and birth defects if the core has a meltdown. The way nuclear energy creates energy is through
nuclear fission, and in nuclear fission the uranium atoms are separated causing a reaction which
releases energy. Nuclear energy plants typically run about sixty years making it inefficient to
invest in as the cost to build a plant is high (Miller). As it stands nuclear energy at its current
level would be insufficient to use because its opportunity cost is too high as radiation creates a
sort of dead zone that is not safe to live in for numerous years. Many people believe nuclear
energy is the way to go, but some people are unsure because of how costly a mishap in the power
The change in energy sources can only be prolonged but never stopped entirely. As clean
energy methods improve businesses will most likely begin investing in them, because as
technology advances for clean energy the costs will go down. Those that are against transitioning
of energy sources that are better for the environment only have reasons that are temporary. A
study by the Pew Research Center in 2012 showed that more than two-thirds believed climate
change was actually taking place (Ananth). National laws such as the Kyoto protocol, signed by
about 180 countries and promising for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, have already
sprung the world into transition. People understand that climate change is happening and that
Works Cited
Viewpoints, and Voices, edited by Roger Chapman, and James Ciment, Routledge, 2nd
"Energy." QFinance: The Ultimate Resource, edited by Qatar Financial Center, and Qatar
Financial Center, A&C Black, 5th edition, 2014. Credo Reference, http://search.
Theoretical & Applied Economics, vol. 24, no. 2, Summer2017, pp. 147-160.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=12355
3416&site=ehost-live.
Miller, Tyler G. and Scott E. Spoolman. Living in the Environment. Belmont: Yolanda Cossio,
2009. Print.